Photo opp - 13 January 2018 at Morges

Had a bit of sunshine during this cloudy winter, time to take a few pictures of the Land Roamer which is almost ready to go...

Aluminium storage boxes

I drove to Bern to pick up 2 custom made aluminium storage boxes.
        I had a little bit of luck today... They barely fitted inside the car!

Curious to know where they will go? - Patience, wait and see...

Constructing a new spare-tire carrier on back door

As I had removed the spare tire from its original position behind the driver's cab (see here a blogpost about this), I used part of the original support frame and modified it to go on the left back door of the Land Roamer. As the original back door was not designed to carry a heavy load I:
- Added more hinges to spread the load.
- Added a "sub-frame" that would go all the way to the bottom of the cabin and carry the load onto that strong "chassis".

1/ Initial sketch of the idea!

2/ Cutting-off some of the metal from original support frame

3/ Presenting the subframe onto rear door, which has been removed

4/ Modyfing the position of the studs that hold the tire (because I now have rims with a wider offset).

- Cutting (grinding off) studs

 

 - Welding studs sub-assembly (from another subframe)

5/ Inserting screw-in fasteners on back steel frame of cabin. I have to put additional "back-up" metal behind the sheet metal to reinforce it.

- Steel flat stock will be inserted in the opening I made on side of cabin

- Screw-in fasteners are inserted and seared

- The flat steel stock will be cut flush with the side of cabin.

6/ On back door, lining up where additional hinges will be fitted

7/ Making sure door is properly flat on garage floor

8/ Welding is finished...

NB - On above picture, the bottom part of the subframe will "encase" the chassis of cabin and will be locked in place by 2 Anti-Luce drop pins that can be seen on picture below. ALL the weight of the spare tire will be transferred there. The side hinges are only to hold the carrier in position.

9/ It fits (... and should work)!

- A new handwinch will be fitted to lift effortlessly the spare tire (via the steel cable).

NB - The spare tire had to be fitted a bit high in order to preserve the excellent departure angle of the Land-Roamer!

Constructing a new battery rack

As I had removed the 2 batteries from their original position behind the driver's cab (see here a blogpost about this), I prepared a rack that would fit alongside and under one chassis rail.

There was just enough room to shoehorn the batteries between the chassis and the front drive shaft.
Because I bought 2 Optima (maintenance free) batteries, I could position them in this "hard to get" position. An added benefit is to lower the center of gravity by having them so low.

The rack is bolted on one side to the frame and suspended on the other side by a long 10 mm threaded bar.

When constructed and before the final coat of paint, I fitted the rack to the truck to make sure all is well!

=> Perfect fit ! GREAT !

Fitting 2 water inlets to right hand side of truck

For the sake of "good looks", I wanted the 2 water inlets to be at the same height as the future door that will access various objects (camping chairs, etc.) that will be stored next to my mini-motorcycle.

First step was to measure this, next to the mini-motorcycle.

Then I could cut my 2 holes...

Ha, ha, for a "Swiss finish", the 2 inlets HAD to be PERFECTLY parallel to to the bottom of truck!

So I made a temporary guide that was placed on the side and then I could glue/screw the inlets.

Outside - Inside

Mini-motorcyle as a shuttle

When I don't drive a 4x4, I drive a 2x1...

Click on this link to read about my motorcycle trip to Corsica
and
Click on this link to read about my motorcycle trip around the Pyrenees

- Both posts are in my other blog “Voyages & Aventures”.

Here's a new comer!

It will be the shuttle for my Land Roamer: so handy to park the Roamer in a nice place (view/shade/security as applicable) and then use the mini-motorcyle to zip around town, to visit sights, to do errands, etc.

=> I need to have it now in order to built it's "garage" in the Land Roamer!


It's made by "Kyota" - 125 cc.
It's a modern replica of the Honda Z, also known as  "Monkey" and/or "Dax" that was created in 1964.

It has folding handlebars AND it's super compact!

Fitted the skylight and more windows...

My first step was to put up trusses as I needed to glue an extra layer of material on top of the roof...

 Concrete sidewalk/garden slabs serve as "weights" while the glue is drying

Fitting the skylight (from inside)

Done !

Glue the door for the chemicat toilet - A strap keeps it in place while the glue dries

 Done!

On right-hand side of truck, I had to fill-in a spot where a rounded glass window use to be...

... simple with GRP and epoxy!

Done! - Right hand side

Left hand side...